


Skandranon's Nightmare

by Nightbunny



Category: Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Body Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-23 00:15:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9631067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightbunny/pseuds/Nightbunny
Summary: What if Noyoki and Hadanelith had succeeded with their plans?





	

Skan shivered in his nest of filthy rags in the corner of a dark, cold cell. Zhaneel, the gryphlets, Amberdrake, Winterhart, even their little Windsong - his friends, _family_ , anyone who could or would come to his rescue - all were dead. The diplomatic mission was a complete failure, the city of White Gryphon now at war with the Haighlei Empire.

He curled in on himself, wallowing in his grief and self-loathing. _Vain, arrogant gryphon, dyeing yourself black like you could be the conquering hero again. Stupid, stupid gryphon, to think you were still anything more than a poor, pathetic mockery playing at being a king. Amberdrake, Zhaneel - forgive me._ His only comfort was that at the very least they had gone to a place without pain. Not so for him. Every time he shifted his body stung all over from healing cuts and aching scars, result of the surgeries Hadanelith had performed upon him. He shuddered, thinking of that creature's hands carding through his bloody feathers with a sick sense of pride, and hating himself when he remembered how he'd shrunk away at his touch.

Skan jerked his head up in alarm at the slide of a deadbolt and rose warily as the door swung open. Hadanelith stood in the doorway, a diabolical grin painting his features.

_Kill him! Kill him while you still have the talons!_ Skan thought desperately, bristling mentally. But his body would not obey him and he stood frozen.

"I have a special surpise for you," Hadanelith said, eyes glittering and making Skan's gut clench. Then he stepped out of the way, allowing a huge, furious makaar to shoulder its way inside.

Skan opened and closed his beak, trying to breathe through the sudden terror as his heart thudded painfully in his chest. _How did he get a makaar?!_

It was bigger than him, bulky like a broadwing, and was clearly in excellent shape. Going talon to talon with that beast in this confined space would have been a brutal fight at Skan's best, and an impossibility diminished as he was.

_You're going to die, old bird_. Skan briefly hoped it would be quick, the sooner to join Zhaneel. But what Hadanelith said next made him go cold.

"I know you've been lonely without your mate, so I thought I would be generous and fix that for you."

Skan stared at him in horrified disbelief. _He can't be serious._

The makaar stalked forward. As Skan scrambled backwards he noted the makaar was extremely, _distinctly_ male and was watching him hungrily, as the air slowly filled with a thick, musky scent. _Oh, gods, he's triggered its rut. No. No!_

The makaar leaped and Skan panicked, rising to his haunches with talons extended, clawing at its eyes, down its belly. But it was as if he were trying to move through molasses, his talons never connecting, and he tumbled back as the makaar latched its beak about his throat, pinning him on top of his wings in his bed of rags. He wanted to struggle, to break free, but now instinct kept him paralyzed.

It mounted him roughly, pushing his haunches apart and forcing its way inside, into the warm pocket Hadanelith had carved there.

Skan trembled and moaned from fear and pain, the makaar making only possessive grunts of exertion in reply. Every brutal thrust a sharp blade of agony, but what was worse, even as he was stretched and torn, were the shameful, tingling pleasures from rubbing against secret, sensitive spots inside him.

Pain and pleasure mingled together until he could not distinguish one from the other, building until he jolted with a scream -

 

\- And threw himself from his nest of padded cushions in his suite with Zhaneel.

Disoriented, he stumbled around in the darkness, breathing heavily, trying to get mind and body back under control. The tile floor was cool from the night air and clacked beneath his talons as he paced around and around, but the room itself was warm, a welcome reminder he was no longer a captive of that madman.

"Skan?" Zhaneel's sleepy voice called from their nest. Even concerned as she sounded, her presence grounded him. His breathing began evening out, tensed muscles relaxing slightly, finally calming enough to stop pacing.

"I'm alright, Brighteyes," He whispered, tiredly. "Just a bad dream." _A shameful, disturbing dream._

Zhaneel hmm'ed in acknowledgement. "Will you come back to sleep?" She asked, opening one big eye to watch him in the shadows.

But Skan had noticed something else. With a dawning horror he realized there was a moist stickiness slowly sliding down the feathers of his inner thighs. _He- he couldn't have actually...?_

He stood stock still in the shadows, eyes huge, trying to form a response when all his focus was on the sensation of slickness now running down his lower legs.

"Actually, I think I'd like to bathe," he forced out, faintly.

Keeping his hind legs as immobile as possible, he backed towards the door. _Please don't let her see._ He had to turn halfway to push it open with one taloned hand, when Zhaneel lifted her head as though about to rise. At that he could not control himself any longer, and fled towards the courtyard.

He needed to feel _clean_ again.

 

Skan splashed quietly around in the bath, which was actually a converted fountain. There were even still fancy fish swimming around him. He felt a bit guilty about what he was washing off into their home, but the urge to scrub himself raw was far stronger. Zhaneel had not followed him out, much to his relief, likely sensing his need for privacy.

Stepping out carefully, he fluffed his feathers and shook himself, spraying water everywhere. He was hardly going to get anyone else wet this late at night. He laid down on the damp stone to let his feathers dry as much as they could and let his thought turn inward again, stomach in knots.

What twisted part of his psyche had come up with forced mating with a makaar? Could Hadanelith have done more to him than superficial cuts while he'd been restrained in his dubious company? He didn't think that creature had any actual Gifts, but it was possible he could have missed some tidbit of information.

Skan sighed. He knew he ought to go to Drake about this. It was his job as a _kestra'chern_ after all. Hell, he was _Skan's kestra'chern,_ _and_ his best friend. Amberdrake might even be _offended_ if he was suffering and _didn't_ go to him. But it was just...embarassing, and he didn't want Drake to know. He was too ashamed.

First, he would find out if Hadanelith had any powers besides practiced cruelty and skill. _If he did, or if this persists after we return to White Gryphon,_ then _I will go to Drake_ , Skan thought decisively.

Rising to all fours, he made his way back inside, the night air against his damp feathers starting to give him a chill. Before returning to his room he stopped to look in on the gryphlets, reassuring himself they were still there, still alive. Two balls of fluff trilled softly from the center of a similar, if messier, nest than the one he shared with Zhaneel. If he watched their contented sleeping longer than he intended to, well, nobody else had to know.

Skan slipped back inside the bedroom, trying to keep his talons muffled against the tiles as he climbed back into the nest.

"Better?" Zhaneel breathed out, not opening her eyes.

"Yes, I think so," Skan said quietly, and was relieved to find he meant it. He curled up against her warmth, already falling back asleep.

Still, he knew it would be some time before the feeling of unease left him entirely.

**Author's Note:**

> Note 1: So this story was based on the mention at the end of The White Gryphon that Zhaneel had told Amberdrake that Skan had woken up screaming 4 nights in a row after Amberdrake had rescued him from Hadanelith and everything with the Eclipse Ceremony had been sorted out. I was inspired to explore what sorts of things he would dream about that would wake him up screaming.
> 
> Note 2: From what I understand about Gryphon physiology based upon the descriptions in the books, they have human-like genitalia that's usually hidden by feathers, so that's what I went with here. In the books, the description for the makaar just gives us "the heat of imposed breeding" so I went with a magically triggered heat and rut for them, because it would be in keeping with Ma'ar's control issues. Whether that's actually true doesn't matter, because it's Skan's dream, and things can make perfect sense in a dream that are utterly incompatible in reality.


End file.
